Centers of Learning and Growth

Charvat, Anne Marie

Hello! I know for many I am saying “Welcome Back to Speech!” and for others “Welcome to Speech!” at Lancaster Middle School. It looks like we are off to a very warm start here at LMS.

If your child is to receive direct Speech Therapy Services, I am currently working on the speech schedule. Most services are up and running.

As a reminder, Lancaster’s Speech Department works using a 3:1 service model. This means three weeks of every four, your student will receive direct therapy with me. The fourth weeks we use to consult with the students teachers, observe students for carry-over, and complete testing. These are only a few of the many other things we complete during our indirect therapy week. Depending on your child’s IEP, they still may receive therapy during that week.

During therapy, we will focus on articulation (how we say our sounds), expressive language (our ability to communicate our thoughts), receptive language (how we understand written and spoken language), and pragmatic language (social skills). Therapy sessions are either individual or small group based on recommendations from last year. Sessions typically run 40 minutes consistent with length of a period at the Middle School.

Since our students have so much work for academic classes, I choose not to use homework unless carryover is the step in a student’s progress. The exception is our Social Skills Groups. Carry over of a learned social skill to outside of the group session is the most important part of the learning for a student.

For those students with an IEP, progress notes will be sent home quarterly. Students who receive non-classified services will receive updates throughout the school year. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the Middle School at 686-3220 extension 7308 or at the email address below.